YES, VIRGINIA, THERE IS A TOWN CALLED COLO IN IOWA

After Belle Plaine, we went thru Chelsea, Tama, Montour, Le Grand, Marshalltown, State Center and took a break in Colo for pie and coffee.

The sky started to get dark when we got to King Tower Cafe in Tama. The neon Indian head sign was still there but the notice on the door informed us that "due to the changes and road closing" the cafe has gone out of business. Perhaps someone would re-open the cafe in the future so we could sit in the comfy booth and have a piece of the famous rhubarb pie. I hope the waitress who knew everyone by name and called the guests "honey" will also come back.

This concrete bridge, built in 1915, on the east end of Tama has "Lincoln Highway" in both of its side rails.

Here at Rube's Steakhouse & Lounge on Elm Street in Montour, Iowa, customers get to grill their own steaks. Glen Rubenbauer (where the name "Rube" came from) opened the tavern in 1973. To make sure the tavern never ran out of steaks, a meat store was opened across the street in 1992. Visit www.rubesmeat.com if you wish to have the steaks shipped to your home.

Inside Niland's Cafe were decoration on the history of Lincoln Highway and other highways. The cafe and gas station were from 1920 and the motel was added in 1940. The lady who worked at the cafe told us that her son works for the street department in the City of St. Louis. It sure is a small world.

It started raining again when we were leaving Colo. We continued to follow US30 thru Nevada, Ames, Boone, Ogden, Beaver, Grand Junction (we stopped to take photos of the trio of concrete bridges), Jefferson, Scranton (we only found one of the pair of Lincoln busts), Ralston, Glidden, Carroll, Westside, Denison (Donna Reed's hometown), Logan, Missouri Valley and crossed the Missouri River into Nebraska around 5:25 p.m.

We were getting tired and decided to spend the night in Columbus, Nebraska. I called my sister CH to touch base. CH and QQ were somewhere in North Carolina. They were on their way to Atlanta, Georgia. My Dad used to say, "Cai nha co chung no cung di", if the house has legs, it would probably be on a trip too :)

FRIDAY DESERT SKY - DEATH VALLEY, CALIFORNIA

June 29, 2010 at 10:18 a.m. we traveled acrossed the vast land of California desert. No longer as treacherous as during the Dust Bowl, but we made sure the cooler was filled up with cold water and ice and of course, a full tank of gas.

We did not stay at this Desert Inn. I just thought the photo would be a good fitting for this week "Friday Desert Sky" theme.

Have a good weekend everyone. Thanks for reading and please come back again soon :)

GOODBYE "SIN TOWN", HELLO "LALA LAND"

Tuesday, June 29, 2010 – We had a restful sleep, were up and ready to get on the road by 6:45 a.m. We both had a good laugh when I commented to my husband, “Let’s get out of this sin town.” We kept a routine of filling up the gas tank in the morning, at lunch and at rest stops. We wanted to make sure that we would not run out of gas in the middle to nowhere. Of course, only premium grade would be good enough for my husband “2nd Mistress”. It was $3.25 a gallon at a gas station across from Tropicana Casino.
We got a quick breakfast from a drive-thru. From Las Vegas, we took I-15 toward Los Angeles. After exit 76A, we crossed into California, San Bernardino County, at 7:59 a.m. We started to feel anxious that after three days of driving 10+ hours, crossing the Indian Territory of Oklahoma, the Panhandle of Texas and the old Spanish colony of New Mexico, we finally were at the doorstep of the Golden State.

9:50 a.m. was when we got into the town of Barstow. I will post photos of other murals, especially the Southern Route of Mormon Trail. We drove thru town and just spent enough time for me to take photos of a variety of vintage motels still lining the main road.
Continued along the way west on I-15 to Victorville, we found the “Bottle Tree Ranch”. (Come back to see photos and description of the Ranch in future post.) We spent about 45 minutes at Route 66 Antique Station in Oro Grande. We did not make any purchase, whether because we knew there was no room to put the items.

At 12:05 p.m. it was time for lunch and Emma Jean’s Holland Burger was a perfect place to get something good to eat. (More about the server “sprayed” ketchup at me while I was eating.)

WHAT HAPPENED IN LAS VEGAS - WELL, NOTHING HAPPENED!

After our visit to Hoover Dam (Monday, June 28th), we drove 35 miles to Las Vegas. We decided to seek overnight accomodation at one of fine motels since it was already 7:30 p.m.

Las Vegas has many attractions and plenty of entertainment. The city is one of those “love it” or “hate it” places. Personally I don’t feel strongly one way or the other. I don’t enjoy the casino scene and I don’t gamble. If we had more time, I would have enjoyed attending one of the shows.

I find it interesting that some clever marketing people using these mimic miniature cities such as New York, Paris, English castles, famous places around the world, and put them right in the middle of the desert to create a one-stop around-the-world fantasy.

We were tired and hungry so we just got a couples of sandwiches from a food court. After a short walk along the main strip, we went back to the motel. If you asked what else happened while we were in Las Vegas. Well, for two boring geezers, nothing happened and that would stay in Las Vegas or anywhere else!

PERHAPS HE FORGOT THE DEODORANT

Last October when we were driving along Glenstone Avenue in Springfield, Missouri looking for Route 66 Rail Haven, one of the few 66-era motels that are still in operation, I spotted the tin-man (above photo) sitting alone on the roof top of the buidling of the Sheet Metal Workers' Local Union 36 Apprenticeship Training Center. Five minutes later, down the road, we were so excited when we found a group of eleven "men" sitting on a steel beam at the edge of the Killian Group of Company building. I don't remember if there was a security gate but I was able to get close enough, zooming in and captured these photos below.

Finding these public sculptures is one of the fun things I enjoy when we go on our Route 66 adventure or weekend trips. I love to visit small towns, places that are tucked away, far from the superhighways, away from the madding crowd of rushing to their destinations while missing so much along the journey. Here is my humble suggestion for your next road trip, get off the interstate to experience the charm of small towns America, or even when you are walking in your city or within your neighborhood, be mindful of what is nearby and you might find the joy in spotting a tin-man sitting alone on the roof top because he forgot the "oil" can of deodorant!

EXPERIENCE OLD TIME ROUTE 66 AT WAGON WHEEL MOTEL IN CUBA, MISSOURI

As part of our travel plan to have a Route 66 experience, we spent one night at the Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba, Missouri. The motel opened in 1934 and is named one of the best-preserved authentic Route 66 motels.

After the drive-in movie, (the first feature Harry Potter started at 9:15 p.m.) we got back into our unit around 11:30 p.m. and were ready for the night. We woke up at 2:30 a.m. when we heard and saw thru the window a group of five young men drinking and talking loudly outside our cabin. They looked like they were visiting the monthly residents in the nearby cabins. One young man leaned against the T-bird and another put his beer down on the car. You must know by now from reading my blog that my husband loves the T-bird. Leaning against the T-bird and putting drinks down on the painted area would be a "crime against humanity"! Then we saw another young man urinated near the T-bird and the group laughed when he pretended as if he was going to spray the car (thankfully he did not). My husband and I watched helplessly with our cell phones ready to call for help should these people started to do some damage to our vehicle. It was a tense and rather frightening moment for me. Keep in mind that the lobby or front desk was actually a living room of the motel owner or a ground-keeper. So we were pretty much on our own should something serious happened. In a regular hotel, we could at least alert the night clerk of the situation without direct involvement. Thank God these people decided that they had enough drinks, got on their motorcycles and pick-up trucks and left at around 3:45 a.m.

I was so exhausted from those terrifying moments, yet unable to sleep, we decided to check out of the unit at around 7:30 a.m. the next morning. From this experience, I would highly recommend that you should obtain a cabin with attached garage (especially if your vehicle is a convertible Thunderbird) or participate in a motor tour with an association (as a group) if you wish to have a traditional Route 66 overnight accomodation without possible unpleasant incident. Also, don't forget to bring a hair dryer and your own shampoo.

This is it - what you see is what you get - very primitive - photo above and below showed all the space (Unit #7) of the cabin. As you open the door, a twin bed to your right, a whobbling and sticky (trust me because I could feel and hear the sound created by the condition of the surface) small table right next to the bed (no king size, queen size or two double beds here), a decent size of closet (we did not use the closet as we were not sure when the last time it was cleaned). The chair with the blue cushion looked worn out and the carpet looked like it has not been cleaned in years. The bathroom was efficient and the water pressure was good, except a strong spray when the water was turned on. We did not even check whether the tiny television was working or what channels were available. That was it, no in-room telephone or wireless internet connection. Even with the unpleasant incident and an almost sleepless night at the Wagon Wheel Motel, we thought it was a pretty good traditional Route 66 experience.